Shades of the Mississippi River Decorative

Artists
April 2011
President- Sharon Fah Secretary- Cheryl Sullivan
Vice-President- Christine Lynn Treasurer- Sue Stone

MARCH MINUTES
The meeting was called to order by President Sharon Fah. A motion was made by Jamie Logan to accept the
minutes as presented with a second from Laura Reich.

The following reports were given:

Treasurer-Sue Stone- savings: $278.83; checking: $6576.29

Sunshine-Sylvia Mihm- cards were sent for February birthdays and a get-well to Connie Gray.

Newsletter-Diana Marshall- sent notes to unpaid members that if their membership is not renewed by the time
the April newsletter comes out, they would not be receiving any more newsletters.

Historian- none

Library-Joan Zastrow-none

Memory Boxes-Jean Meer-memory boxes painted by Jeanne Elliott(3), Karen Plowman(2), Barb Selhost(1)

Publicity-Sharon Fah- check blog for latest SMRDA news. The website is smrda.blogspot.com

Seminar-Linda Hatfield- update given by Sue Stone for the April seminar with Bobbie Takashima.

Christmas Party-Sue Stone-none

Ways and Means-Auction-Nancy Hungate- update given on our March auction.

Show & Tell- Monica Brogan and Laura Reich brought in their Las Vegas Convention projects. Many auction
items were presented and displayed.

2011 budget was presented and a motion to approve was presented by D. Toots Garvin, with a second by Sylvia
Mihm.
Monthly calendars were printed and everyone was encouraged to take them to put in their black notebooks.
They are to be used to keep track of all SMRDA events.

Jamboree is scheduled for Saturday, August 20th in place of a paint day at the Deere Wiman Carriage Building.
Jamie Logan volunteered to be chairperson.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was presented by Jeanne Elliott, with a second by Peg Rounds.

Treats were provided by Laura Reich and Sue Stone…Delicious.

Program: Painting rainbows and shamrocks on wood. Sharon Fah provided the supplies and directed the class.

Respectfully….. Cheryl Sullivan

AUCTION
Nancy is providing a survey for the auction; please respond to it if you attended the auction. If you have
the capability, please print and fill out the last page of the newsletter and bring it to the meeting or mail it
to Nancy Hungate, 3807 Spring Street #1B, Davenport, IA 52807. Nancy will have additional printed

copies available at the meeting.

APRIL MEETING
Technique Time will begin at 6:30. We encourage all of you to bring your 3 ring binders. Bring your normal
painting supplies. Chris Lynn is doing a fun program for us this month; a darling flower pot painted in denim.
Come ready to paint!! See the last page of the newsletter for the instruction sheet with a picture.
MEMORY BOXES Jeanne Elliot

SEMINAR
A huge thank you to the wonderful seminar committee. Great job. Lots of fun going on this weekend

NEWSLETTER NOTE: Something fun from the loew-cornell website: By: Gisele Pope, Advocate.
http://www.loew-cornell.com/zen-from-a-liner-brush--pages-128.

I am always on the prowl for new art forms and trends. I had seen some black and white art in one of the altered art magazines that
caught my eye. The name of the art was “Zentangle,” made by using repetitive patterns in black on a white background. I started
researching other black on white art techniques and came up with pen drawings and ink, this started me thinking.

Zentangle is similar to doodle art, it is as addictive and meditative. Jentangles have a few rules and I am not much of a rule follower, so
I ignored them and jumped right in. When you get into the actual method of it all, anyone can do it, and you have probably done some
of it with a paper and pen when you were bored in a meeting or on the phone and did not even recognize that you were doing art!

You know how when you open your mind to spotting trends or being super creative how you begin to see things that you had been
totally ignoring in the past. Well, while I was demonstrating my favorite fine line pen and liner basics at the booth in Wichita, along
comes this lady with a Zentangle necklace! She had taken the design chips for laminates (rectangles with holes in the top from her
favorite hardware store) and actually made it into a necklace. She told me how she had used a different subject for each of the
rectangles, divided them into sections and then began to fill them in. One of them was a fish, another was curlicues, etc. When all of
them were displayed together they meshed well because no matter what the subject was, the black and white on the unifying
rectangles made it work. That got me thinking! I am an avid collector of anything with a heart shape (you should see my heart shaped
rock collection!). I thought it would be great to work on a heart shaped wood piece and turn it into a wearable piece of art. I had some
of the Woodsie wood shapes at home, even some heart shapes, but what I really imagined was not coming together. But...when I
overlapped two Woodsie teardrops and they created a heart, I was on my way. I began by sketching out a circle for a floral design
because I have been really into Jacobean floral, but then I decided to put heart shaped designs on the heart. I had such a blast that I
decided to make special ones for my booth mates by hiding their favorite things within the designs.
One of the theories of Zentangles is that they are produced in single sitting so it makes it very satisfying and easy to get lost in. The
best part of the whole process was the practice I got using my liner brush and the Fine Line Pen.
Here are a couple of secrets for you when designing your own “Zentangle”. Prep and seal the wood with your favorite method. When
dry, lightly sand and apply several coats of white paint. If you want to sketch in your divided sections to begin, use a pencil with light
pressure. You will find later that you don’t even need this step because you are filling in as you go.

When using the liner brush, be sure that you make the black paint about the consistency of ink and really load it into your pen so it is
soupy. Wipe off the water bubble that may have accumulated on the ferrule of your brush and then level out the load by either laying
the hairs horizontally and lifting, or by rolling the tip to a point. This technique helps you to keep all of the lines the same size from start
to finish. Keep the handle of the brush vertical so that the paint flow will last a long time and drag the tip as you apply the paint.
Keeping the handle vertically also helps the gravity flow of the paint and allows you more flexibility by using your wrist, elbow and
shoulder without restrictions.

Fill in the areas using patterns and shapes like circles, spirals, feather patterns,
stripes, wavy lines, triangles, crosshatching, and add contrast by filling in some of the
shapes with your brush. Part of the fun is to discover how many patterns you can
use. I know that the original intention of Zentangles or Doodle Art was to use a pen
and paper, but as artists and designers we just cannot follow those rules. By using a
liner I am able to correct any little stray lines with my trusty cotton swab- a feat not
managed by the ink and paper doodlers.

The next zentangles I create will be in red or blue liner…gotta stay walkin’ on that
edge!

Take out your liner brush –two bottles of paint and a fun surface and let’s just see how
creative you can be!

Importa Date
nt s
April 14 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
May 7 9:00– Saturday Paint Date Deere Wiman Carriage Building
3:00
May 12 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
May 16-21 Mon-Sat Convention Wichita, Kansas
June 9 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
June 12 9:00– Sunday Paint Date Deere Wiman Carriage Building
3:00
July 14 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
August 8-13 Mon-Sat HOOT Columbus, OH
August 11 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
August 20 9:00– Saturday Paint Date Deere Wiman Carriage Building
3:00
September 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
8
September 9:00– Saturday Paint Date Deere Wiman Carriage Building
17 3:00
October 7 & Fri-Sat Mary Wiseman
8 Seminar
October 13 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
October 22 9:00– Saturday Paint Date Deere Wiman Carriage Building
3:00
November 7:00 Thursday SMRDA Meeting Bettendorf Community Center
10
December 8 SMRDA Christmas
Party
Birthda
ys
Mar 10 Joan Zastrow Apr 1 Barb Selhost
Sandra
Mar 14 Breder May 1 Carol Laws
Diana
Mar 17 Sharon Fah May 13 Marshall
Mar 23 Jean Meer May 27 Sue Murphy

Treats
April Pat Hickman and Kim Wheat
May Barb Selhost
June Sylvia Mihm and Doris Williams
July
August
September
October Jamie Logan and Jean Meer
November

SMRDA BUDGET 2011/2012 PROJECTED INCOME ACTUAL INCOME

Balance Forward 3,200 3,200

Auction 5,000

Membership (32 members) 300 320

Seminars 1,000

TOTAL 9,500

SMRDA BUDGET 2011/2012 EXPENSE TOTAL 9,500

Rent 200 Christmas Party 500
Programs 800 Sunshine 100
SDP Expenses 300 Advertising 100
Newsletters 200 Seminar 2,000/1,000
Community Service 300 Ways and Means 1,500/1,700
Jamboree 500 Misc & Fees 100
Membership 100 Memorial Fund 100
Survey following SMRDA Auction 2011

1. Did you like the new facility? __x_Yes ___No Was it easy to find? _x__Yes ___No

2. Would you like to see our club’s next auction held there? ___Yes ___No possibly

3. Were there any things that you didn’t like about the facility? Please explain.
I liked it a lot, but, because it was so much larger I think it was harder to get the whole room involved in the auction activities.

4. Did you like the food that we served our guests? __x_Yes ___No

5. Was check-in a smooth process for you?

I think it went smoothly except when we realized we were short of bid tickets. Since we did realize it ahead of time we were able to
manage.

6. If you purchased an item(s), how was the check-out system? If you have any suggestions for improvement, please list them:
Make sure the current treasurer is aware of the change needed and that the cash box is at checkout.
I think the better the recording process is, the better the check-out will be. I like recording both on index cards and in the book. The
index cards really require two people, one to pull the card and one to record the info. These are especially helpful for when guests
leave early. The card can be pulled and recording can continue. When the same person is recording and checking people out, they miss
some of the items.

7. Was parking adequate for you and your guests? yes

8. Did you feel there was enough time to view our auction items, and enjoy our luncheon too before the auction began? _x__Yes
___No

9. Were our programs easy to follow? _x__Yes ___No

10. We know we need to get each auction piece around during the auction process, and that was a problem. Do you have any suggests
on making that process better?
Maybe if we auctioned fewer items we could spend more time on each? I think we did have a lot of items and it got a little long.

11. Would you like to see two check-out tables available for our guests, maybe with one table taking care of bid numbers 1-60, and
the second table dealing with bid numbers 61-120? ___Yes ___No Rather than dividing the numbers separate by paying by check or
by cash.

12. It has been suggested we add on our ticket that we only accept cash or checks. Do you think that is a good idea? ___Yes _x__No

13. Would having 4 spotters for the auction be a benefit? Each person could monitor one quadrant of the room. __x_Yes ___No

14. If we have 16 tables, how many door prizes should we have as opposed to auction centerpieces. ___6 or 7________________

15. Do you think we had enough raffle items? _x__Yes ___No. Do you like the option of having a choice for a specific raffle item,
or should we have one basket for all tickets purchased? Don’t have a preference.

16. What improvements could we make for a better event? (Please use the back of this sheet to go into detail on your ideas and
suggestions.)
A few of the things I noticed had to do with the size of the room. These are things that can be adjusted to pretty easily.
1. Bigger bid tickets
2. More spotters and communicating with the auctioneer if they think she may not see a bid.
3. If the auctioneer was located on one side of the room it might be easier to see bids as the room wouldn’t be as deep.
4. Make sure it is known what bid amount is current and what number has the bid. When bidding is about to close make sure the
everyone knows it. Ex. Going, going, gone!
I still think this event is very successful and really brings out a lot of good in our chapter. Lots of members work together and work a
lot! The artwork each member donates becomes a small gallery showing of the current work they do.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. It will help our next auction committee in the planning of their event.
 Blue Jean Flower Pot • With #8 flat add irregular patches of
midnight blue a few places on the
Adapted from a design by: Donna pot for worn areas.
• Then use script liner with wicker
Reed white to dab the edge of those areas
and add small strokes to create
Chris Lynn, OSCI ragged thread look.
• Load #12 flat with Thicket on one
corner and Sunflower on the other
corner and blend well. Stroke vines
Paints: Regular Folkart Acrylic around belt area and out of pockets.
• Add One Stroke simple leaves around
Wicker White the vines
• Load #12 flat with wicker white on
Midnight Blue one corner and berry wine on the
other and blend. Stroke rose buds
Thicket Green around the vine areas. You can also
add some smaller buds with the #8
Sunflower flat.
• Using #8 flat loaded with thicket and
Berry Wine sunflower stroke simple leaves over
the bases of the buds so they appear
(small amt of burnt sienna for snap) to be growing out of the vine.
• Seal with outdoor sealer when
Folkart Floating Medium
finished. You can use a pot liner to
protect the painting also.
Brushes:
•
¾” flat, #8 flat, #12 flat, #2
script liner

General Instructions: Enjoy!

• Seal pot if desired with clay pot

sealer or other water resistant sealer
• Basecoat pot in wicker white with ¾”
brush, let dry
• Load ¾” brush with floating medium
and side load with midnight blue.
Apply with a slip/slap motion so that
some of the white shows through
and there is a denim effect (dry)
• Mark top of pot with pencil to
indicate front, back, and 2 side
seams.
• Load #8 flat brush with floating
medium and side load midnight blue.
• Float 4 seam lines, then float the fly
and front slash pockets and back
pockets. Add a few more floats on
top rim for belt loops.
• Load #2 script liner with wicker
white, adding water until an inky
consistency.
• Add stitching lines around pockets,
and all seams and fly (dry)
• Paint fly button